Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-12-22
A GHOST ON BOARD.


Several sea captains sat in the counting
room of a South street chambers shop
one afternoon recently and discussed
ghosts, sea serpents and marine spooks
generally. One captain said that he had
once had mate who had seen q ghost in
the mizzentop one dark night Another
Of the shippers said that he had known
captain who had a steward who had once
been shipmates with a spook.
II can tell you better story than that"
remarked a third shipmaster. Il was
once ON a haunted vessel myself This
vessel was really haunted by ghost-I
am telling YOU the truth. And, what Is
more, | was the ghost that haunted the
vessel This announcement gave rise to
some expressions of increduIity. which
the captaiu who claimed 10 he an x-ehost
proceeded 10 answer by spinning his warn
Il was a tough younyster about III
wears ago, ~ he continued, $50 tough that
NV parents sent me to sea. didn't mar
ticularly fancy life on shipboard at first,
because they gave me lots of work. and |
didn't like work; ana because they didn't
give me good yictuals. and was frirhtful
fond of good victuals, The bark that
had shipped on went to Bordeaux. The
third night in that port asked for per-
mission TO 90 ashore. but was told that
would have to remain on board. That
made me mad. saw the captains small
boat alongside the gangway with the oars
in it. Icrawled down into the boat, un-
fastened the painter, and showed of from
the bark. Then I rov'ed, As I thought,
toward the shore, but it coon came on to
be thick. As l couldn't see but . few
wards from the boat. I had nothing to do
but sit quietly in tho boat and let her
drift. And she drifted all night. Soon
after daylight heard the swash of q yes-
sci coming toward me- I jumped up and
hailed her. She WAS q small outward
bound bark, sailing slowly, with the
wind on her beam. There were people
on her deck, and, just as they
passed, one Of them hove me line, which
/ caught. In minute Twas on board the
vessel. surrounded by several rough look
ing Spanish sailors, who examined me
from head to foot as IL l were curiosity.
While they were still watching me the
captain came up, and, in broken English,
told me that his vessel had just left Bor-
deaux for Buenos Ayres. He could not
put back to land me, and It would be un-
safe for me to leave the bark in the fog.
He had a spare berth, and I could work
my passage, he said. He then ordered the
little boat in which bad been found to be
hauled on board.
~ was placed in the mates watch Tho
mate was wicked looking fellow, who at
once took a strong dislike to me- One
morning l began to whistle while at my
work The mate heard me and gave me
q sound thrashing. l took it from that
that the mate was very superstitious, like
the majority Of Spanish sailors then, and
lad that INV n~hisf1ipn v-pv,1N hr,n0
the vessel i'll luck After that he always
thrashed me on the slightest pr,vocation.
We had unfavorable winds and calms
nearly the whole time The mate and the
sailors all seemed to regard me As the
cause of the unfavorable winds, for often
caugnt them looking at ME in . distrust-
full 'eay, as If they thought l was Jonah.
1.-The food was very poor and there was
little Of it. slept in y little room in the
dsckhouse where some Of the stores were
kept. There was small trap door in the
Geek in this room. One night, when we
Aad the first watch on deck, l saw, as
passed the galley door, that there was
something that looked like . can Of pre-
served meat on a shelf inside the door. /
watched my chance and seized the c,.n
and took it to my bunk, where / hid it.
AT midnight, when turned in, l found |
that the can contained picked lobster. l
eic the whole contents OF the can, and
then stole out on deck and threw the can
overheard. l slept heavily after turning |
In, and later on had an uneasy feeling,
rs il my stomach wasn't working rightly.
1t seemed to me as II were climbing up
and down precipices and cropping along |
narrow lodges, and now and then crawl |
ing along in dark caves. Suddenly the |
In n ii thpp, ,nhA
self in small boat alone on the ocean. A |
vessel came rapidly in sight and hurried |
past me. Help! help" I cried; don't |
leave me here to perishr Then heard |
an answering cry in Spanish. I replied |
with another cry for help. Then awoke |
and found myself in the lazaretto Of the |
bark, with my head sticking out of . small |
port hole. In my nightmare l had got out |
OF my bunk, opened the trap door In the |
deck, gone down into the hold, climbed |
aft along the cargo, entered the laxaretto |
through q small trap door, opened the |
port and stuck my head out into the Air /
and yelled for help. It took me moment |
or SO to realize all this. then heard |
cries on deck, and concluded that I had 1
really yelled out, and that the people on |
deck thought that the yells came from |
some one who had fallen overheard or |
from some shipwrecked person in . boat
or clinging to raft.
Il shuddered when thought Of the
thrashing that was sure to receive from
the mate if he discovered that had been
responsible for the alarm closed the
port and started to retrace my steps.
had got through the trap door of the
lazaretio when l stumbled and fell over
basket, As did so heard the clinking
Gf bottles tore open the basket and
found that it was filled with bottles Of